Sponsored Ads

2018-01-08

Each Dalmatian Molly pattern is unique, some having more black spots than others and some being much more white. Their bodies are chunky with rounded fins, except for the male's anal fin, which is pointed. They can grow up to 4-inches in length.

Although Dalmatian Mollies have peaceful temperaments, they do get a bit nippy. Provide them with plenty of sturdy plant life for nibbling to keep the nipping of other fish at bay. Plant life is optimal too because of their need to eat plenty of algae.

Angel Fish, Guppies and Platys are well-suited mates for the Mollies. Also, consider housing them with other Molly breeds. There are many types to choose from and they will cross-breed. It's kind of a fun surprise, the different combinations of fry that result.

Dalmatian Mollies do enjoy chasing other species around, but they generally cause no harm.

It is important for the health of the Mollies to have aquarium salts added to the water. For every two gallons of water add one teaspoon of salt. Take into consideration before adding other species to the tank that they can tolerate salt water. The water temperature should be between 68-82 degrees Fahrenheit. Dalmatian Mollies need plenty of swim area, so 1-inch of fish per 1-gallon of water is best.

For optimum health give your Dalmatian Mollies not only algae-based flake food but small amounts of greens. Lettuce and cooked peas are good choices. They also enjoy occasional snacks of freeze-dried bloodworms or tubifex.

Chances are good that when you bring home your female Molly, she will already be pregnant, as she is able to hold sperm for up to six months. The gestation period is anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks. Being a livebearer, she will give birth to more than 20 little free swimmers at one time. Some people place their pregnant Mollies in a breeding net before birthing. This is a bad idea because she will likely become stressed.

For the fry, have ready aforehand a 9 or 10-gallon tank. After the mother gives birth, remove the fry with a turkey baster and put them into their own tank. Of course, you can't be watching the aquarium 24 hours a day, so have plenty of floating plant life for them to hide in until you are able to get them to safety. You will also need to have your filter covered with netting before they are born, as it is likely many of the fries will get sucked into it. If you choose not to have a separate tank for the fry than be sure you add extra floating plant life for hiding.

The fry can eat crushed flake food and baby brine shrimp.

The Dalmatian Molly grows to adult size in about 3 months. Well before that, they may join the other fish in the community tank. You'll be able to judge when they are big enough to not be eaten by the bigger fish.

The average lifespan of the Dalmatian Molly is 2 years.

You're going to enjoy watching these black and white beauties race back and forth, stopping for a nibble here and there.

2017-11-11

Mollies come from Poecilia spp. and the Poeciliidae family. The Mollies are one of the favorite tank fish since the fish is similar to the swordtail fish. The swordtail comes from the Xiphophorus helleri group. The molly, however, does not have a swordtail, rather a larger fin, known as the dorsal. The fish has a variety of shapes and it reaches up to 4 to 4 ¾ inches in size. The males only grow to 3 1/3 or 4 inches at most. Mollies male and female counterparts differ in color, size, and gonopodium. The fish can live in extreme wide-ranging environments and will suit in estuaries habitats. The water temperature desired of the molly is 72 degrees, not succeeding 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Mollies also prefer hard water, which the pH level should be set at seven or eight. The fish will reside in hard waters, which salt is needed. Mollies enjoy house furnishing, lights, well-planted areas, thin layers of humus, and so on.

Feed:

Mollies will feed on vegetables, including spinach as well as algae. The fish are omnivorous in nature. Mollies have a biological lively nature, which the schooling fish desires constant water flow. The fish are livebearers and breed successfully providing plenty spawns. In addition, mollies are sociable, yet the fish should be kept in community tanks where large schools exist.

Guppy fish listed under Poecilia reticulata is kin to the family of Poeciliidae. The fish comes from the waters in Guyana, Venezuela, Brazil, Trinidad, and Barbados. The environment desired is still, flowing waters. The fish prefer water temperatures at 68 degrees and no higher than 75 degrees Fahrenheit. The pH level should not succeed eight, nor go below seven. The water preferred is hard water, which the fish can live in extreme hard water conditions as well. Tank: The fish prefer illuminated tanks with plenty of furnishing. You should store the fish in a medium tank and provide them rich vegetation and plants. The fish will eat all sorts of foodstuff. Biological nature; The biological loose school natured fish will be on the constant go, therefore he does not have time for long-drawn-out schooling arenas. The fish are good breeding fish, yet beware, since Guppy will eat their own youth. You should keep Guppy fish in tank aquariums where other livebearing fish reside.

Aquariums

Nowadays the aquariums are ecosystems include a wide assortment of technology advanced qualities. Air and water pollution has increased the need for aquarium life, which in accordance technology has advanced the tanks to meet the high demand of aquarists. Tanks today are constructed by technological experts, which design real water aquarium environments. Most tanks sold today, including advanced electrical circuits, plugs, filters, air supply, etc. The market is saturated with tanks that will allow you to raise or lower the water temperatures. The light switches enable you to vary in intensity, thus lowering or increasing the light production.

In addition, you have a wide array of on and off switches, which utilize mechanical timers that permit aquarists to easily adjust water temperatures and light intensity.

One advantage of tanks today is that most tanks are equipped to handle nearly all fish available on the market. The problem is all fish are different and require their own special attention. Therefore, you should never group fishes with fish that prefer to live with their own kind. In addition, seawater/saltwater and freshwater fish differ. The freshwater fish include the Tropical and Coldwater fish.

2017-11-10

Female Gold Molly. It's a female fish as you can see cause it has no Gonopodium. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Molly fish is usually included in the list of fish which are ideal for the beginners. Their needs are minimal, they are hardy and they are grateful. However, if you keep them in the aquarium with other species of fish around, they are a bit naughty.

They will try to nip the fins of other fish and cause stress among the fish community. Fish with large fins will be able to fend for themselves but small ones may develop stress and feel harassed. Sometimes they may get infections due to the wounds and may even die.

There are some other issues also with Molly fish. They are born aggressive and their body shows the same features. They have powerful jaws with sharp teeth with which they can easily cut and eat algae from the aquarium. They have a digestive tract which is long enough to digest even the hardest algae. They are capable of destroying many other plants from your aquarium.

Another issue with the mollies is they are not freshwater fish in the real sense. They can live in the freshwater environment but they will still need some marine salt in the water. It will provide an ideal chemistry of water for them.

So after considering all these issues, an obvious question comes ahead - are they really suitable for your aquarium? These requirements are no doubt demanding than any other species of fish. They need absolutely clean water and they cannot tolerate any amount of nitrate in the water. But they need somewhat warm water in contrast with most of the other species which are comfortable with cold water. Mollies can successfully live in colder water but it is bad for them in the long run. If you are going to add some marine salt to the aquarium, they will be comfortable but the other species of fish may find it a bit tough to survive.

So you may conclude that they are incompatible in the community of tropical fish. To some extent it is true. Species like the tetras and Corydoras will not be able to live with Molly fish in the same aquarium. However, there is a number of other species which are fine with them. Species like glassfish as well as wrestling halfbeaks will be comfortable with the Molly fish. All the livebearers of the New World will enjoy their company as they can easily tolerate some salt in the aquarium waters. Other varieties like bumblebee gobies will also be able to live with them. If you make a small research on the Internet and speak to the local pet shop staff, you can get many tips about their compatibility with the other species.

Mollies are sometimes misunderstood but they are wonderful additions to your aquarium. Their actions are fascinating and graceful and it is a pleasure to watch them swimming in the aquarium. My advice is - know them well before you bring them home and you will be certainly proud of them.

2017-08-06

The Molly is actually more than one species. This fact sheet is an attempt to give information common to most of the ones frequently kept in aquariums. One of the most popular species of Molly is the Sailfin Molly, Poecilia latipinna. Another common Molly is Poecilia sphenops. The Molly is in the same genus as the Guppy, Poecilia reticulata. The Molly tends to be bigger than the Guppy. Mollies normally grow to about 4 inches (10cm), but under very good conditions will grow bigger than this. Mollies in the Brisbane River are reported to reach 7 Inches (18cm).

Water Conditions

The Molly is a salt loving tropical fish. They do not do well in water that is too pure in the sense that it is lacking in salt. The Molly will even live in sea water, and is sometimes added to marine aquariums. A suitable temperature is 24 degrees C (75 degrees F). They prefer alkaline water, and like plenty of hardness.

Food

The Molly is an omnivore with a preference for vegetable matter. They will relish live food like daphnia and mosquito larvae like most fish, but also eat soft algae. A normal fish food is suitable, and some people like to supplement this with algae wafers or spirulina flakes.

Companions

The Molly can be kept as a community fish as long as you choose suitable companions. Mollies are a little bigger than many of the small fish often kept together. While I have kept Mollies with Neon Tetras they are not ideal companions. This is not so much the size difference as the different water preferences. Mollies are generally peaceful fish, but I would avoid putting them with Siamese FightingFish. I know of one case where two male Mollies were kept with a male Siamese Fighting Fish and attempted to mate with it. Eventually the Mollies harried the poor fighting fish to death.

Any fish released or that gets away and gets into natural waterways is a potential hazard to the native fish of the habitat. In some parts of Queensland Mollies are becoming a problem. In Queensland, Mollies can legally be kept in aquariums, but not in situations where they can get into natural waterways.

2017-07-12

There are some peculiar varieties of fish which requires special conditions for their existence. Black molly is one of them.

Black Molly is a brackish fish. Such type of fish cannot sustain in either pure freshwater or in pure saltwater. They must be kept in a tank with water which has some salt. The quantity of salt may not be very high like normal saltwater but there has to be some salt required for them to live. Naturally you cannot easily accommodate Black Molly with other fish in fresh-water or salt-water tanks.

You should make some on-line research and also consult your pet shop owner about how much salt needs to be placed in the water.

There is no need to get worried about their compatibility with other species due to their salt requirement. There are other species which can sustain in such partly salty water.

Besides this specific requirement, Black Molly is like any other average fish. Usually it resembles a black guppy fish. This is a live-bearer fish. So you need to provide a lot of baby fish around the adults. If you keep a pair of a male and a female with no young ones around, they may not be comfortable with the environment and may develop stress which may even result in their death.

In spite of these specific requirements, Black Molly is an easy fish to care. You should put the fish in a tank with the water capacity of 10 gallons or more. This is required for taking care of their living environment. The fish will grow up to two inches over a period of time. If you want to keep a family of them in the tank, which is recommended, you should calculate the water capacity at two gallons per one inch of fish. So if the family consists of 10 members, you can keep them in a tank of 20-plus gallons.

The temperature of water should be kept in the range of 75-85 degrees. You should install a lighting system to provide sufficient light for them. They will usually require 6 hours of light every day. Please do not keep the light for longer time. In that case, the temperature of the water will increase and the fish will get over-heated. Providing light for 6 hours will resemble their natural habitat.

This fish is peace-loving. So it will be happy to live with other species comfortably. It will not chase or hurt other fish in the tank. It does not have any territorial ambition, so it will swim around the tank happily with others without any stress.

Considering the acquiring costs, the fish is available very cheaply in the shop. So even if you bring a dozen of family members at home one time, that's within your budget. It may not cost you more than $25!

There are no specific requirements of food for Black Molly. They are happy to eat the food you will provide to the other species in the aquarium. You can feed them flaked food or pellets. They are happy to eat live food like brine shrimp or blood-worms, but you should not offer them live food very often. You can also make a few experiments to find out which food your fish like the most.

Black Molly fish very popular among the fish keepers and if you put a combination of mollies in different colors like black and gold, they can make your aquarium beautiful and lively.

Chintamani Abhyankar is a goldfish enthusiast and has been raising and breeding goldfish for many years. He is an expert on their care and an advocate for raising healthy goldfish the natural way.
Article Source: EzineArticles